The nation's first black attorney general and Gov. George C. Wallace's daughter celebrated the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march Sunday 44 years after state troopers from her father's administration beat marchers as they started the landmark journey.

Crowds danced in the streets, wept, lifted their voices in prayer and brought traffic to a standstill. From the nation's capital to Atlanta to Los Angeles, Americans celebrated Barack Obama's victory and marveled that they lived to see the day that a black man was elected president.

Barack Obama, still basking in euphoria at home and abroad over his stunning election as the 44th U.S. president, faced the more mundane task Wednesday of putting together a new administration and dealing with the twin problems of war and financial crisis.